yet another kitty question

[Kristie]

Max, like I said before, that's for peeing/spraying and is not Cricket's problem. Before assuming it's a behavioral problem, she should see a vet to rule out a medical issue.

As for indoor vs. outdoor cats, I don't see any real reason why cats have to be outside. Outdoor cats require additional vaccinations that have a higher risk of problems than the typical indoor cat vaccinations (rabies and distemper). For example, my indoor cats will never get feline leukemia shots but outdoor cats have to and there is a very slight chance of some tumors associated with this vaccine. Sure, my cats meow and howl constantly to go out, but they learn. Beckham did this to the point of madness, and now he's fine inside. Max is constantly running out the door or acutally clawing through my screens, but he'll learn eventually. To me, it's just not worth the risk of all the diseases they can catch. I can't afford to vaccinate them against that and I don't want to take any chances. Domestic cats were bred to be indoors; there's nothing instinctive about them being in the wild. Not to mention, in a lot of cities it's not legal. The outdoor cats by my parents house are all sick, they're not taken care of b/c they never see a vet regularly, they've killed off the birds and routinely tear into each other. I can't believe how people say they love animals and then neglect their animals like that.

Kristie, I've been to your house and seen your cats and you have a very nice yard and your house is far enough from other houses for it not to be a problem.

I guess it's mainly a matter of personal choice based on if you're willing to pay extra and go to extra vet visits for the proper vaccinations and what the laws are in your area.

Our yard is one big kitty playground... but we've still had one cat get hit by a car and several that just never came home. I might teach a cat to walk on a leash but I've had enough of them that I loved go outside and never come home.

 

[U2Kitten]

I too have had cats that just never came home. It's not like them, since they loved me. We can always hope some nice old lady took them in, and it happens, but most of the time it's more like somebody hurt them

I used to walk a cat on a leash, and everyone in the neighborhood made fun of me. The people who loved cats said it wasn't natural, and others just laughed and joked on me for it. I even tied him out on the porch sometimes for fresh air, and one day a mean boy in the neighborhood came and cut him loose! I heard the cat screaming like he was being tortured, and I followed and found the boy in the woods with him. As soon as he saw me he let the cat go, dragging his tieout tether behind him getting caught in weeds. I never tied him out again. I found out the boy had bragged of killing someone else's cat. The boy was an all around asshole in every way and I was not sorry to hear he had been beaten to a pulp by some other kid down the street.

I would think even kitty playgrounds are not totally safe, some asshole might come do something to them if you aren't around. I saw a story on tv about this lady who had 13 rescued dogs in pens in a barn and one night somebody came and set it on fire and only one dog got out alive. People suck.

 

[Liesje]

I've tried the harness on my three cats. Beckham has learned it, but he won't "walk". He stays leashed to a bush by the door. He ONLY goes out if I'm sitting on the steps or sunning in the yard. He's accepted the harness now and enjoys just laying in the shade for an hour or so, which is fine by me. I also take him out occasionally for exercise b/c he loves to chase a mouse on a string around the yard and there's no room in the house for this game. He's so focused on the hunt, he never realizes we're outside.

For an entire year, Posh never showed any interest in going outside (probably because we took her out in the snow once for a picture, since she's black and white). If I had the door propped open to bring in groceries, she'd lay on the door frame looking out, but never wanted to leave. Just recently she does this cute thing where she puts her paws on the door and yelps. If I let her out, she usually gets too scared to go and changes her mind, or she wanders about 10 feet away, sniffs the grass, and yelps for me to let her back in. The nice thing about her going out is that she actually stays by me for safety and is too chicken to split.

Maximus is the worst. He was originally taken in as a stray, so he's had experience being outside. He howls and howls and howls to get out. He also sneaks out behind people. He even rips the screen out of my window, so I have to lock him out of my room if I want my window open and am constantly re-splining my window. I never take him out b/c then he thinks he's allowed out. Max won't use the harness and is so skinny, he wiggles out of it, so no outdoors for him!

I like to take each cat out with me once a month or so because I live on a busy street and that way if they ever do escape, they don't get so scared of all the traffic noises that they go crazy and end up running into the road.

 

[U2Kitten]

One more thing if you're going to harness or tie out, make sure they aren't where they are going to get wrapped up or jump off and not have enough rope and hang. I had a friend whose cat did this one time, he was declawed, a cat with claws could have pulled himself up.

Another lame thing about the original post by Max is that dogs are much worse about pissing and shitting indoors in bad places than cats are, more trouble to train, and you usually have to have newspapers or take them out. Then whatcha gonna do if he won't train, shoot him?

 

[Liesje]

One more thing if you're going to harness or tie out, make sure they aren't where they are going to get wrapped up or jump off and not have enough rope and hang. I had a friend whose cat did this one time, he was declawed, a cat with claws could have pulled himself up.

Exactly. This is why I stay out w/ Beckham, b/c he's clipped to a bush, but could walk around it a few times and run out of leash. I was going to put a stake in the yard where there would be nothing to get caught on in any direction, but I actually prefer him sitting under the bush b/c when he's in the grass, he chases bugs and will forget he's leashed (or get stung like when he was a kitten).

 

[Kristie]

Maximus is the worst. He was originally taken in as a stray, so he's had experience being outside. He howls and howls and howls to get out. He also sneaks out behind people. He even rips the screen out of my window, so I have to lock him out of my room if I want my window open and am constantly re-splining my window. I never take him out b/c then he thinks he's allowed out. Max won't use the harness and is so skinny, he wiggles out of it, so no outdoors for him!

We're having that problem at home with Sam... he goes outside and is gone for weeks and comes home all starving with his bones sticking out. It's so hard to keep him in because he's just so fast and mom and Tim are slow, he'll zoom out the door when someone opens it and once he's out nobody can catch him.

Pasquali left and never came back, but he took up residence with the neighbors. Sometimes we see him sitting in their window. So that's good.

 

[Liesje]

heh....luckily, the only thing Max cares about more than sneaking out is treats, and now that he's learned his name, he will come as long as we're calling for him within his ear shot. Usually, Melissa (who I actually gave him to) will call him in her high, sing-songy voice "Maximuuuuuuus!" and you can hear his bell and tags and him calling back "rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr". I'm sure the neighbors are either amused or disturbed!

 

[Kristie]

heh....luckily, the only thing Max cares about more than sneaking out is treats, and now that he's learned his name, he will come as long as we're calling for him within his ear shot. Usually, Melissa (who I actually gave him to) will call him in her high, sing-songy voice "Maximuuuuuuus!" and you can hear his bell and tags and him calling back "rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr". I'm sure the neighbors are either amused or disturbed!

oo!
that just might work!
the shaking of the treat can summons all cats.
I shall pass it on.

 

[U2Kitten]

Pasquali left and never came back, but he took up residence with the neighbors. Sometimes we see him sitting in their window. So that's good.

There really are happy stories of missing cats, glad to hear about this!

 

[Liesje]

oo!
that just might work!
the shaking of the treat can summons all cats.
I shall pass it on.

Yes, all of my cats know the word "treat". They all know their names. And Beckham and Posh also know "spider" and "NO".

 

[Headache]

I have the most beautifull PUSSY in the world

 

[starsgoblue]

Anyways...I've got a cat question....My roomate has a cat. The cat ran away for a couple days and finally came back with a limp. It seems the cat's back leg is hurt and he won't put weight on it. It's been like this for over a week and my roomate hasn't taken him to the vets. I also have caught him a couple times messing in the house, I'm not a cat person but it seems like that'd be something unusual for a cat to do. Could the two be related and signs that he really needs to be taken to a vet? I've told my roomate a few times that maybe she should take him but she doesn't seem concerned which, honestly, kinda pissed me off...cat people, what do you think?

 

[angelordevil]

Anyways...I've got a cat question....My roomate has a cat. The cat ran away for a couple days and finally came back with a limp. It seems the cat's back leg is hurt and he won't put weight on it. It's been like this for over a week and my roomate hasn't taken him to the vets. I also have caught him a couple times messing in the house, I'm not a cat person but it seems like that'd be something unusual for a cat to do. Could the two be related and signs that he really needs to be taken to a vet? I've told my roomate a few times that maybe she should take him but she doesn't seem concerned which, honestly, kinda pissed me off...cat people, what do you think?

Well, I'm thinking the vet is the way to go. Whatever happened, it appears that the leg movement is causing pain and perhaps limiting the ease of entry into the litter box. Something like this happened to one of my family cats one time, and we made a litter tray that was lower to the ground while her leg mended. Too bad you seem to care more than your friend...the cat could have a fracture or infection that could really affect it over the long-term.

 

[starsgoblue]

I'm The cat is still not right and my roomate just says she doesn't have the time or money to take him to the vets. How freaking irresponsible/selfish can someone be?! I don't know what to do cause I can't ignore this...

 

[kellyahern]

I'm The cat is still not right and my roomate just says she doesn't have the time or money to take him to the vets. How freaking irresponsible/selfish can someone be?! I don't know what to do cause I can't ignore this...

Well, technically what she's doing is animal cruelty (neglect) and is illegal, and not having money to go to a vet isn't a valid legal excuse. If she can't care for the animal, she shouldn't own it and should maybe call the ASPCA and turn the animal over. But I'm not sure calling the animal service authorities on your roomate is a good idea if you have to live together .

 

[Kristie]

yep, what she said

maybe you could call anonymously?
though I don't know how many people know about her gimpy cat, so I don't know how anonymous it would be...

 

[RocknRollKitty]

Sneaking behind her back is a nasty thing to do. If you turn it over to the SPCA, most likely what will happen is that the cat will be put to sleep as 'diseased' or 'unadoptable' and your friend will face charges of hundreds of dollars more than the vet bill would have been. So please, if you care about her and the cat, the best thing to do is to try to help her find ways to get it to the vet, or even threaten her that some nosey busybody might turn her in if she doesn't, that might scare her. But I can see no good from turning her in, don't believe the fairy tale that the SPCA is going to operate on the cat for free and give it a home, in 99.9% of cases that is dreaming and unrealistic. They have so many animals they don't have the time or funds to do that. You will literally be sending the cat to its death and your friend to jail. I hope you reconsider.

 

[bonosloveslave]

One of the frustrating things I deal with is people having pets who can only manage the 'standard' things like food, litter, toys. They can't afford vaccines, checkups etc - and especially can't do anything if the animal gets sick. I wish people would think ahead more - would you bother to even buy a car if you had no way to pay for gas, insurance, repairs, etc? It's not a matter of *if* a pet will get sick, it's when. And it's not fair to make them suffer because they didn't plan ahead.

[/rant]

This cat is most certainly suffering, especially if it is not bearing any weight on the affected leg - it is almost certainly broken. Will it heal? Probably. But it will be miserable for at least a month or 2. At the very least, if they saw a doctor, they could prescribe pain meds for the cat - not ideal but better than nothing if they can't afford surgery/casting/amputation etc.

You might make some phone calls to offices in the area for your friend to see if any of them are willing to do payment arrangements - though be prepared that the majority of hospitals say that payment is due when services are rendered. You could ask if they offer Care Credit (though your roommate would have to qualify for it) . It's like getting a line of credit for your pet's care, you usually get between 3 months to 1 year to pay off your bill interest free. Actually you can see who in your area has it by searching their site at http://www.carecredit.com/providerloc/?Profession=Please+select...&Zip=48009&Radius=0 You can also apply online...

Sorry you're stuck in such a hard situation

 

[starsgoblue]

Sneaking behind her back is a nasty thing to do. If you turn it over to the SPCA, most likely what will happen is that the cat will be put to sleep as 'diseased' or 'unadoptable' and your friend will face charges of hundreds of dollars more than the vet bill would have been. So please, if you care about her and the cat, the best thing to do is to try to help her find ways to get it to the vet, or even threaten her that some nosey busybody might turn her in if she doesn't, that might scare her. But I can see no good from turning her in, don't believe the fairy tale that the SPCA is going to operate on the cat for free and give it a home, in 99.9% of cases that is dreaming and unrealistic. They have so many animals they don't have the time or funds to do that. You will literally be sending the cat to its death and your friend to jail. I hope you reconsider.

Reconsider what? I never even so much as typed SPCA in any of my posts or said I was intending to do anything behind her back.

 

[starsgoblue]

One of the frustrating things I deal with is people having pets who can only manage the 'standard' things like food, litter, toys. They can't afford vaccines, checkups etc - and especially can't do anything if the animal gets sick. I wish people would think ahead more - would you bother to even buy a car if you had no way to pay for gas, insurance, repairs, etc? It's not a matter of *if* a pet will get sick, it's when. And it's not fair to make them suffer because they didn't plan ahead.

[/rant]

You might make some phone calls to offices in the area for your friend to see if any of them are willing to do payment arrangements - though be prepared that the majority of hospitals say that payment is due when services are rendered. You could ask if they offer Care Credit (though your roommate would have to qualify for it) . It's like getting a line of credit for your pet's care, you usually get between 3 months to 1 year to pay off your bill interest free. Actually you can see who in your area has it by searching their site at http://www.carecredit.com/providerloc/?Profession=Please+select...&Zip=48009&Radius=0 You can also apply online...

I totally agree. I would love to have a pet right now but I know I just don't have the time or finances for one.

And thanks for that link. I will definetly try and show that to her.

 

[RocknRollKitty]

Reconsider what? I never even so much as typed SPCA in any of my posts or said I was intending to do anything behind her back.

I meant reconsider the suggestion. Really, I never even saw who posted the original message, I was just worried someone would because it was being discussed. Sorry!

 

[Kristie]

Reconsider what? I never even so much as typed SPCA in any of my posts or said I was intending to do anything behind her back.

yeah, that was me and lies
she's right about most cats being euthanized, but I think that's more because most cats taken to a shelter are feral. Nobody's going to want to adopt a feral cat. If it's a nice cat in good health it should be put up, but a nice injured cat is probably a little more iffy.

the way I see it you can...
A) do nothing
B) keep trying to talk her into taking the cat in (this includes the credit thing and/or threatening her with the SPCA because it is indeed neglect)
C) take it in yourself ($$$)
D) actually call the SPCA (uncertain future for the cat, angry roommate)

 

[Liesje]

She should at least look for options. I go to a place called South Kent Vets and they are clean and totally legit, yet cost basically 1/4 of all the other places in town. I was referred to them by my boss who's had tons of pets and also one of my Profs who has two purebred dogs and money isn't an object to her. So, basically, all I did was ask around, check websites, make some calls and I found this great place that I can afford. For example, Beckham had to have his teeth cleaned, which is quite a procedure for a cat b/c they have to have blood tests done and go under anesthesia for the actual cleaning. At most places, I would've cost $250-$400, usually not including extractions. At my vet, it cost $75 including minor extractions (which he didn't need).

Anyway, my point is you don't know if you don't try so I'd put some pressure on her to at least make an effort, b/c like Kelly said, technically not treating a serious injury like that IS a crime. It doesn't matter that the cat ran away. Tell it to her this way: if her kid got lost and came back with a gaping wound, would she just shrug and say she can't afford to fix it or it's not her fault b/c the kid ran away?